ur focus article this month is on christmas – a busy
time of year for many in the food and drink industry,
especially those who work in hospitality. for some,
christmas without turkey would be unthinkable, but these days
there are plenty of options open to non-meat eaters, too.
Those who go the whole hog – or rather, avoid the whole
hog – and embrace veganism, may want to get booking for
vegfestuK, which sold out last year and this year takes place on
21 and 22 october at london’s olympia. The show will be
preceded by the uK’s first vegan trade show on friday 20
october at the same venue (www.vegfest.co.uk).

TwiTTer
@food_drink_news

conTriBuTe
info@planet-media.co.uk

This issue we are also focusing on desserts and puddings,
frozen foods, confectionery and labelling and packing – all areas
that will come into play in the run-up to christmas.

Food & Drink News is published by planet media & Design ltd. company registered in england & wales, number 09365661. all material is the copyright of planet media
& Design ltd. all rights reserved. food & Drink news is the property of planet media & Design ltd. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form,
whole or part, without the written permission of a Director of planet media & Design ltd. Liability: while every care is taken in the preparation of this magazine, the
publishers can not be held responsible for the accuracy of information herein, or any consequence arising from it. in the case of company or product reviews or
comments, these have been based upon the true and honest opinion of the editor at the time of going to press.

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

3

{ Industry News }

JUST EGG LAUNCHES
THE ’PERFECT’
POACHED EGG

Just egg chilled foods has added to its
premium collection with a line of freerange, poached eggs – the first British
manufactured product of its kind.
The eggs, aimed at the hotel,
restaurant and cafe markets, are
prepared and packed to ensure optimum
freshness and to preserve flavour,
delivering the most superior product on
the market to-date.
available in easy to peel, simple to
remove packaging, Just egg’s poached
eggs are less likely to get damaged when
served and so will look, as well as taste,
the very best. managing Director of Just
egg chilled foods, pankaj pancholi,
comments: “The poached egg is a high
protein, healthy option and a staple of
the British diet. it’s been our ultimate aim
for some time to innovate with the
supply of this product.
“we wanted to ensure that our
poached eggs are a perfect offering that
will provide customers with the freshest,
tastiest version of their favourite meal or
snack.”
also available from enriched cage
hens, the eggs are the ideal shape for
toast, buns and muffins and can be
prepared in two to four minutes,
depending on each customer’s taste.

For further information, log
on to www.justegg.co.uk or
call 01162 742 822.

4

SELF-MONITORING CODER WILL
HELP BUSINESSES IMPROVE OEE
coding and marking specialist interactive
coding equipment (ice) has launched a
next generation thermal transfer
overprinter (TTo) which is able to monitor
and report on the quality of each code it
produces. This largely removes the need
to include a costly vision system on the
line in order to meet increasing demand
from retailers for code quality checks.
ice says its new Zodiac hawk TTo will
help businesses in their drive to achieve
improved overall equipment effectiveness
(oee) by being the first coder that can
report on all three elements of oee, with
quality now included alongside
performance and availability. equally
important, the coder’s ability to provide
early warning of any potential loss of code
quality will help to minimise production
disruption and downtime, as well as
reduce the risk of customer complaints or
the possibility of a product recall, with its
cost implications and potential damage to

brand reputation.
The Zodiac hawk features iassure™, an
internal checking system that assesses the
spent ribbon after each code has been
produced to determine whether the print
quality has been good enough. if the code
is deemed to be unacceptable, the Zodiac
hawk can signal for the pack to be rejected
and if the fault persists, can declare a trend
of deterioration and stop the line entirely.

Tel: 01159 640144
Email:enquiries@uk.interactive
coding.com

RHUBARB PRODUCTIVITY SOARS THANKS
TO ULMA’S PACKAGING EQUIPMENT
one of the largest suppliers of soft and
stone fruits in the uK, mockbeggar ltd,
has seen a dramatic increase in
productivity at its farm pack house in
rochester, after installing a sienna
horizontal flow wrapper from ulma
packaging.
mockbeggar’s growers produce
around 435 tons of rhubarb per annum
which is now being packed by ulma’s
sienna flow wrapper at a rate of up to 3,500
packs a day during the peak season in
march and april. Joao estanqueiro le,
mockbeggar’s pack house manager, says
the packaging process of the fruit, which
can come in random lengths, has been
transformed since the sienna was installed.
what used to take a whole day of manual
labour is now ready for shipping to
mockbeggar’s customers, which include
many of the major high street stores, in half
that time.

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

he added: “we did compare suppliers but
knew of ulma and went to see their
machines in action. we liked the robust
construction and ease of operation. The
equipment has made a huge difference to
our productivity and their after sales service
is also excellent. we would go to ulma
again if in the market for packaging
machinery and i would recommend them
to other companies.”

www.ulmapackaging.co.uk

{ Industry News }

CCS PROVIDE A HANDLING
SOLUTION AT BRITVIC

following the successful line move from
chelmsford to leeds, leading soft drinks
company Britvic selected colwall conveyor
systems ltd (ccs) to solve a logistical and
handling problem at its expanding
swinnow lane factory.
in order to create an enclosed area to
incorporate a new high-speed filling line,
Britvic required an existing production line
to be re-planned and moved in order to
create a 2m forklift truck access between
the equipment and a new partitioning wall.
This would provide free flow, enabling
trucks to deliver packaging materials to this
existing line 1.

Engineering specialists to the
Food, Beverage & Packaging
Industries
headed up by Directors steve Dudley
and Trevor harris, colwall conveyor
systems (ccs) has come to the forefront
after the long established walsall
engineering Group consolidated its various
operating divisions and pooled the
resources under this one banner.
steve Dudley reported, “ccs has
maintained key experienced personnel and
engineering resources that has established
the business as a respected supplier of total
solutions, providing comprehensive
engineering support services to both oem’s
and manufacturers across many sectors of

4 ACES ’JUMPS’ RIGHT
IN WITH ITS FIRST
FESTIVE CUP

industry both in the uK and overseas.
we have designed bespoke engineered
solutions to meet individual customer
needs, manufacturing, fabricating and
assembling equipment.
colwall conveyor systems manufactures
and installs a wide range of conveyor
solutions to meet customers’ individual
requirements. from single or multiple
conveyors for integration into existing
machinery lines, through to complete fully
automated conveying systems including
controls and software.”

Teamwork is the key to success
as well as creating space for an access
aisle, several conveyors had to be installed
and modifications to the plant were
necessary in order to complete the project.
This included the relocation of a spiral
conveyor, manufacturing and installing
new access stairs and gantry platforms.
This whole project was redesigned inhouse in conjuncture with the Britvic
project team and close communication
was essential throughout, as all the work
had to be completed prior to the
installation of the new filling line. The
install process went smoothly and Britvic
are very satisfied with the end results.

4 aces has designed its very first festive
cup, ’Jumpacup’, which it is expecting to
roll out at the start of the autumn period
when cafes, bars, restaurants, food-to-go
suppliers and events managers are
preparing for the preliminary, seasonal
build-up to the highly anticipated winter
holiday.
The non-branded cup adopts the
theme of ’coming together’, with its
colourful design depicting a row of
festive jumpers, their sleeves touching as
if they are joining hands. The single wall
cup will be available to order from the
leading packaging specialist, at the end
of september, in both 8oz and 12oz
sizes.
having previously created sell out
cups for key customers to mark that
special, celebratory time of year, 4 aces
decided to introduce a generic festive
cup in the hope of reaching the widest
audience. managing Director of 4 aces,
chris penn, comments: “The idea to
create a festive cup took hold simply
because the response to the designs we
created last year for key customers was
so strong. most people are keen to
embrace the spirit of the season and it’s
nice to provide a universal design that
gives them that option.”

Visit the website at
www.4acesltd.com or call
01992 535774.

www.colwallconveyors.co.uk

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

5

{ Industry News }

TOMLINSON’S DAIRIES INVEST IN FILLING LINES
welsh liquid milk processor Tomlinson’s
Dairies has made a multimillion pound
investment following a listing in a
supermarket giant in the uK. as part of the
investment, ektam has been chosen to
manufacture two new fully automated milk
filling lines capable of filling 68,000 litres of
milk per hour.
each one of the two new lines is expected
to fill six different bottle formats from 189ml
up to six-pint bottles.
philip Tomlinson, co-founder of
Tomlinson Dairies, says: “we visited ektam at
its production plant and were very
impressed with the quality, manufacturing,
level of engineering and experience in
turnkey filling lines.
The ektam line is fed from the blow
moulding facility through an ektam
elevator/twister unit with auto conveyor
adjustment for instant bottle format change
over then fed through to ektam’s ’megaroll’
opp wraparound labelling machine.

The bottles accumulate on ektam’s spacesaving tandem accumulation conveyor
systems before entering the ’flowmatic’
filling and capping clean room machine with
auto height adjustment for quick format
changeover.
each filling head precisely measures the
liquid volume with electromagnetic
flowmeters with hygienic non-contact filling
allowing capacities up to 60,000 bottles per
hour. filling is followed by an arol capping
station with anti-dust and cap sterilisation

system.
The bottles are then sent through the
induction sealing unit followed by the
inspection system for fill level, cap colour,
cap presence, cap misalignment and foil
detection with an ejection system. The
bottles are then packed into trolleys with a
pick and place robot.
The fully automatic filling and capping
line and conveyor system includes an auto
foam and clean system allowing human-free
cleaning of the filling and capping line after
production.
Kursat uysal from ektam uK, comments:
“This is a very exciting time for ektam having
secured the manufacture and supply of two
fully automated filling lines first time into the
uK at Tomlinson’s Dairies.
“following the commissioning of the two
lines we will be extending our offering and
activities in the uK concentrating on dairy,
drinks and beverages sectors for hDpe, peT,
glass and can filling lines.”

UNIGLOVES PEARL® OFFERS A
COLOURFUL SAVING TO YOUR BUSINESS
The unigloves pearl range of coloured nitrile
gloves have been specifically designed to
help reduce the risks of cross contamination
within the food industry.
The use of colour-coded gloves
significantly reduces the risk of bacterial
cross contamination and is best practice in
food safety standards. pearl is available in an
expansive range with 12 different colours
that can be used in all environments
requiring single use hand protection. The
use of coloured gloves can be part of a
colour coded system which provides a
constant visual reminder for the workforce,
reduces confusion and ensures that health
and safety remains at the forefront of your
business.
every pearl glove is made from high
quality, powder-free nitrile for the perfect fit.
The gloves are food approved and offer
good grip, excellent dexterity and comfort.
unigloves has been providing innovative
glove solutions to the uK market for over 15
years. specialising in the manufacture of

6

premium, single-use gloves, unigloves
supplies over 2 billion gloves, globally, every
year. with smart manufacturing, cutting
edge technology, innovative design and
meticulous testing, unigloves ensures that
every glove is suitable for its specific
application.
To make your colourful safety statement,
please get in touch to find out more about

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

the unigloves pearl range.

For further information about
Unigloves products, please visit
www.unigloves.co.uk

{ Industry News }

THE SURVEY INITIATIVE AND VIMTO
MAKE SHORTLIST OF CIPR PRIDE AWARDS
leading employee research provider, The
survey initiative, and soft drinks giant, vimto,
have been shortlisted for the cipr pride
awards (anglia, Thames and chiltern) for
Best internal communications campaign.
The survey initiative has been working
with vimto for three years and has helped
the company achieve incredibly high levels
of employee engagement, as well as
supporting the company in the development
of its values. lynne poole, head of human
resources, vimto, explains: “we have always
prided ourselves on being a great place to
work. Thanks to The survey initiative we
have been able to pinpoint areas we can
become even better at. To this end we
embarked on a consultation with our

continued to work in partnership with vimto
to gauge their employees’ views on their
workplace and the results have been
amazing says, Gary cattermole, Director,
The survey initiative. “vimto really is a
wonderful place to work, they not only listen
to their employees but also act on their
thoughts, ideas and feedback. recently
we’ve completed a further engagement
survey with vimto and employee
engagement was recorded at 95%, which is
almost unheard of!”
employees where the company values were
created from the bottom-up and have been
completely embraced by all.”
The wix-based employee research
consultancy, The survey initiative has

To find out more about
The Survey Initiative, visit
www.surveyinitiative.co.uk, for
Vimto, www.vimto.co.uk.

IQBAL POULTRY LEADS THE WAY WITH AIR CHILLED OFFAL
a poultry processor has significantly
improved the quality and shelf life of its offal
products by investing in a hybrid air chilling
tunnel from iQf equipment specialist
starfrost.
iqbal poultry, a trading arm of chesterfield
poultry ltd, supplies the international retail
and trade sectors with a variety of poultry
products. The firm recently required a
chilling system specifically for offal products
after expanding its poultry operations at a
newly acquired site in Thorne, uK.
The poultry processor’s parent company
previously operated water spin chillers,

cooling offal products using water
submersion, a traditional method used by
many offal manufacturers. iqbal poultry
decided to explore alternative solutions
which could offer energy efficiency
combined with increased product quality
and discovered the significant advantages to
cooling with air rather than water.
mohammed fayaz ahmed, Director at
iqbal poultry, highlights the advantages of
the newly installed starfrost hybrid chilling
tunnel: “shifting from water to air chilling
was very important to us and the quality of
our offal products, so it was essential we had
a system
designed to
specification
and able to
operate at
precise
temperature
requirements;
the starfrost
air chilling
tunnel system
does exactly
that.”
fayaz adds:
“The project
with starfrost

has been very successful and we were in
safe hands from the start. The tunnel install
has provided us a variety of benefits,
primarily the significant improvement to the
quality of our offal products; the colouring
has been enhanced and shelf life increased
so we couldn’t be more satisfied with the
end result.”
iqbal’s hybrid tunnel has been designed
with an integrated stainless steel belt that
simultaneously processes 1,200 kilos per
hour of heart, liver, gizzards and neck. The
system offers the advantage of a selfcontained base frame, which enables ease of
relocation and flexibility to the customer.
The unique, energy efficient design of the
hybrid tunnel allows for operation at a
higher air temperature than typically used
for chilling, which has enabled iqbal poultry
to reduce production costs, increase energy
efficiency and improve the quality of the
offal products.
starfrost’s hybrid air chilling tunnel offers
poultry producers an effective and hygienic
design which can reduce the risk of
contamination compared to water cooling,
whilst maximising product quality. it is
designed to offer simple operation, low
maintenance and boost operational
efficiency.

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

7

{ Industry News }

LIZI’S GRANOLA LAUNCHES LONG-AWAITED
KIDS GRANOLA, ’LIZI’S ADVENTURERS
after much anticipation, lizi’s Granola is
launching a new granola for children aged
five to thirteen years old. The product, called
lizi’s adventurers, is packed full of goodness
and will encourage kids across the country
to make sure they are choosing the right
kind of breakfast so they can conquer their

day’s adventure – whatever that may be.
with over 10g of fibre per 100g, and 3.5g
of sugar per 30g serving, this product aims
to appeal to parents who are looking to give
their children a lower sugar breakfast option
that doesn’t compromise on taste. not only
will this help to keep kids on the go for
longer, but could lead to them cutting out
sugary mid-morning snacks.
lizi’s adventurers will launch with two
variants, Banana and strawberry, both
coming in striking packaging that shows
characters emma and Tom on an epic
adventure – whether it be camping or on a
boat in the high seas.
nick smallwood, sales Director at lizi’s
Granola, comments “we’ve been working on
a kids product for some time and now we
believe we have something very special.
Getting kids to eat a healthy breakfast is no

mean feat and we understand that. it has to
taste good too – and it does!”

Lizi’s Adventurers will be
available in stores from October,
RRP £3.69 per 400g pouch.

NEW FLY NAVY GIN FROM CURIO SPIRITS
curio spirits has launched a new gin for
2017. available now, fly navy Gin is a 42%
proof luxury craft spirit available online.
Designed to mark the centenary of
landing the first aircraft on a moving ship at
sea, and the pioneering spirit of the men
and women of the royal navy, the mullionbased distillers developed an idea, which a
chance meeting gave wings!
made using the award-winning process of
the company, the gin is quadruple distilled
with natural botanicals. sippers can taste
hand-picked local wild heather, piney
juniper from europe, sansho peppers from
Japan and organic madagascan vanilla, with
hints of citrus, spice with earthy undertones.
This spirit is perfect as a G&T and in
cocktails, with a rich flavour in design.
This new product is a first for the fleet air
arm, and a first for curio spirits, making it a
historical moment for both the royal navy
and the local distillery.
it has been a wonderful experience for the
distillers to make fly navy Gin. as a small
local company in west cornwall, it meant a
lot to curio spirits to be included within the
wider community, and their success as a

small business has been at the hearts of the
people involved at navy wings.
fly navy Gin will also raise money for the
fleet air arm. a donation from each bottle
of fly navy Gin sold will go to the navy
wings charity, who have allowed curio
spirits to use the iconic fly navy logo on the
bottles.
located near to rnas culdrose, curio
spirits are keen to recognise the
contribution of the fleet air arm over the
past 100 years and were delighted to
develop a special gin for the special
anniversaries of the royal navy this year.
curious by nature and curio by name, the
genre-redefining craft spirits range from
cornwall includes age-old ingredients to
create tipples that are flavoursome with
every sip.

Fly Navy Gin is available to buy
online, at
curiospiritscompany.co.uk RRP
£36.99.

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

9

{ Industry News }

GLOBAL INDUSTRY IT
SPECIALIST CELEBRATES 40 YEARS
csB-system aG, based in Geilenkirchen,
Germany, is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
starting out as a small team of consultants
for the meat industry, csB has developed
into a globally active iT enterprise for the
entire process industry. Today the csB
Group employs more than 600 members of
staff, generates an annual sales volume of
€77m, and is one of the largest ownermanaged software enterprises in europe.
in 1975, Dr peter schimitzek created a
software program to facilitate the
implementation of guidelines for meat and
meat products. Today, csB-system aG is the
leading industry iT specialist for the process
industries of food, beverages, chemicals,

pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and trade. with
its offering of software, hardware, services
and business consulting from a single
source, the company sees itself as an

innovation partner that creates a
competitive edge for its customer base.
The central focus of the company remains
the optimisation of processes and products.
The company has now deployed csB
solutions at approximately 1,200 customers
in 50 countries worldwide and, in 2016, csB
was awarded the renowned erp system of
the year award.
in conjunction with its 40th anniversary,
csB has published a book: 2027 – a look
back at the future of innovation, which can
be downloaded at www.csb.de/2027

Tel: +49 2451 625 430
www.csb.com

TRADITIONAL SNACK PACKED
AT UNTRADITIONAL SPEEDS
The installation of four ishida atlas
integrated multihead weigher and
bagmaker combinations at leading
spanish snacks manufacturer
facundo Blanco has delivered an
increase in output per line of
around 30%.
ishida was the first company to
fully integrate the design of
bagmakers and multihead
weighers, with the aim of
optimising the interface between
the two key machines involved in
modern snack food packing. aimed at the crisps and extruded
snacks segment, this technology also proved ideal for sunflowers,
leading to facundo Blanco becoming the first company in spain to
install the system. since then, three more have been added.
“The ishida combination will pack up to 90 bags per minute,”
says Technical Director, manuel arroyo luján of facundo Blanco.
“This remains unsurpassed for sunflower seed packing, which is a
relatively dusty process.”
This dust also contains salt from the purification process. Despite
this potentially corrosive mixture, the ishida machinery maintains
accurate weighing, precise film control, timely stripping of product
away from the seal zone, sealing and similar complex functions, all
at high speed and over long periods. This dependable performance
is of great importance to facundo Blanco.

Tel: 0121 607 7700
www.ishidaeurope.com

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

11

{ Industry News }

PROSEAL REWARDED FOR BEST
PRACTICE SEALING MASTERCLASS
heat sealing specialist proseal has received a
supplier award from sainsbury’s for its work
with Dupont in running a series of ’sealing
masterclasses’ to help the retailer deal more
effectively with complaints about seal
failures. according to sainsbury’s the
initiative has resulted in a double-digit
reduction in complaints.
sealing is the cause of the majority of
sainsbury’s packaging complaints, with
typical issues including sealing breaches,
sealing failures and even imploding seals.
The sealing masterclass focuses on two
key aspects of sealing: polymer science,
how plastic film sticks to food trays; and
good heat seal practices, including machine
and heat seal tool design, tray material and
good housekeeping for the machine and

tooling.
“as a business double-digit complaint
reduction is something that we rarely see,”
explains Debbie parry, sainsbury’s Brand
packaging Technologist. “The support that
proseal and Dupont have given us with
these masterclasses has been very much
appreciated.”
The companies received a special award
at sainsbury’s recent supplier awards.
proseal’s head of sales and control
systems, Tony Burgess, comments: “sealing
technology has advanced a great deal in
recent years and proseal continues to be at
the forefront of developments.”

Tel: 01625 856600
Email: info@prosealuk.com

PA HIRE SCHEME OFFERS
FLEXIBLE PACKAGING SOLUTIONS
To help businesses grow and adapt without
tying up cash in machinery, packaging
automation (pa) offers a hire scheme that
allows customers to automate packing
processes with minimal investment. entrylevel machines are available on short-term
hire for seasonal products such as fruit, with
a sealing tool for one-pack format on hire
for a fixed weekly rate. after an initial sixmonth hire period, users can return the
machine and stop making payments, keep
the machine at a reduced weekly rate or
upgrade for a small uplift in cost to a quicker
machine with a sealing tool if demand is
increasing.
chicory crops, a small business packing
gooseberries and cherries in punnets for
marks & spencer, waitrose and Booths,
worked closely with pa’s hire specialist
lesley wakefield, who helped keep their
costs down with a short-term hire package
to suit the cherry season. This included a
fully electric semi-automatic tray sealer and
tools.
Jake simpson, owner at chicory crops,
commented: “The machine is simple and
very easy to use. The service we have
received from pa has been very good, the

12

tools arrived when we agreed and the
service team have been great. That said, the
simplicity of a rotary machine means that
we have very rarely had a service engineer
on site. we have already recommended pa,
there are a number of
businesses in our situation and
the hire of a rotary sealer is a
great way to provide a heat
sealing capability for a smaller
business requiring flexibility.
rotary machines are simple
and, with the right operatives,
can churn out a high pack rate
for very little cost and
complexity. They allow you to
far more accurately match your
production requirement to the
capacity of your machine or
machines meaning that you
are more efficient if you don’t
have a consistent production
output throughout the season.”
pa also offer advice, industry
contacts and a free support
service, including the
preparation of sample packs in
a test kitchen to help with the

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

presentation of packed products to
prospective customers.

Tel: 01565 755000
www.pal.co.uk

{ Industry News }

PACKS AT YOUR CONVENIENCE
with continuing high demand for
convenience packaging solutions, rpc Bebo
uK has launched a selection of new packs in
both polypropylene (pp) and peT suitable for
a wide variety of products.
The 60mm diameter pp pot – available in
45ml, 60ml and 75ml sizes – is ideal for dips,
salads, fruit pieces and snack meals. The
four compartment snap pp tray, with a
220ml brimful capacity per cavity, offers a
convenient multipack solution for both food
and non-food applications. all four
compartments can be easily separated for
individual servings or to stack in a cupboard.
Both packs can be specified in a choice of
materials – monolayer pp or ultra-high
clarity ppure, and barrier pp/evoh/pp for
long ambient shelflife products. They are

The Z101mm diameter straight-sided peT
container, in 198ml, 262ml, 294ml and 391ml
sizes, has also been designed for many types
of food applications, including chilled
products. it can be specified in coloured peT
or off-set printed, subject to minimum order
quantities, to help create brand
differentiation and maximise on-shelf
appeal. The container is suitable for direct
food contact and a choice of lids is available.
rpc Bebo uK can provide full technical
support, including help with filling trials and
the supply of portable sealing equipment.
suitable for direct food contact, hot filling
and high temperature processes such as
sterilisation and pasteurisation. special
grades are also available for microwave
cooking and reheating.

Tel: 01536 272945
E-Mail: sales@rpc-bebo.com

STOATS EXPANDS SAINSBURY’S
DISTRIBUTION WITH UK LISTINGS
scottish oats company, stoats, has expanded
its distribution with sainsbury’s, securing
three uK listings with the major retailer for
its porridge oat Bar multipacks.
The new listings build upon two years of

brand growth within sainsbury’s scottish
stores and will see distribution of three
varieties of the best-selling porridge oat
Bars increase to 292 stores across the uK.
Tony stone, managing director at stoats,

commented: “we have a proven track record
with sainsbury’s shoppers. our porridge oat
Bars have the highest brand category repeat
purchase rate, so we know it’s a product
that sells well and it’s fantastic to be bringing
our bars to even more retail outlets across
the uK. They’re a great addition to the
weekly family shop and really appeal to
shoppers looking for premium products
made with natural ingredients combined
with convenience for busy lifestyles.”
lydia atkinson, Buyer, impulse –
confectionery, sainsbury's supermarkets ltd,
said: “we’re really excited to be introducing
the stoats range to our uK wide stores, so
that not only can our scottish customers
enjoy stoats porridge Bars, but our
customers in england, wales, and northern
ireland can enjoy these bars too. They are
delicious bars, with unique flavours, so i
encourage everyone to go out and try
them!”
multipacks (4 x 50g porridge oat Bars) of
stoats Blueberry & honey, stoats raspberry
& honey and stoats orange & Dark porridge
oat Bars will be on shelf in sainsbury’s
stores uK wide, from 8 october. The new
listing builds upon strong national listings
with Tesco, waitrose and morrisons.

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

13

14

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

{ Christmas Focus }

Serving Up
A Festive Feast
From retail to food service to manufacturers,
companies in the food and drink sector each
have their own way of preparing for the
Christmas market.

w

hen do you start your
christmas preparations? while
turkey farmers start planning
for the following christmas as the rest of
us are still making sandwiches with this
year’s leftovers, and restaurants start
sending out special offers to encourage
early christmas bookings around summer
holiday time, retail outlets usually won’t
put up their festive displays until after the
Back to school signs have been taken
down. not so selfridges on oxford street
in london, which this year welcomed in
santa claus to open its christmas
department in July – a full 21 weeks
ahead of christmas Day. Then, on 4
august, the store launched a capsule
range of christmas food with a long shelf
life, including a traditional christmas cake,
an eggnog spread and festive biscuits.
“This new extension to our usual offer is
addressing this growing demand for
convenience – domestic customers who
love to christmas shop very early in the
year to get it wrapped and taken off their

to-do list,” said eleanor Gregory, the
company’s christmas Buyer. it’s also
expected to appeal to those who are
visiting london in the summer – whether
tourists or expats – and want to stock up
on traditional British christmas goods.

Convenience first
with christmas being such a busy time,
products that will make life easier on the
day are often a popular choice. while
some may prefer to make their stuffing,
sauces and gravies from scratch, others
prefer ready-to-cook options such as
frozen yorkshire puddings and preprepared vegetables.
The co-op, which will once again offer
a frozen christmas meal Deal of main
course and dessert for two for just £10, is
also this year marketing its fresh
christmas dinner box for two. comprising
a ready-to-cook turkey, pigs in blankets,
stuffing parcels, cranberry sauce and
gravy, it retails at £12, with a separate
vegetable pack for £3.

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

15

{ Christmas Focus }

Traditional pubs and restaurant chains might be the obvious choice
for those planning works’ outings or family get-togethers, but festiveinspired food will also be on offer in less obvious venues.
Dining out
at pizza express (www.pizzaexpress.com), this year’s
christmas offer, available from 21 november, will
include a roast dinner pizza, featuring roast beef rather
than turkey, horseradish and sliced roast potatoes, all
on a romana thin crust base.
Those looking to splash out on their festive fare can
head to northcote (www.northcote.com), the aa & visit
england hotel of the year 2016/2017, located on the
edge of the ribble valley in lancashire. The michelin
star restaurant’s christmas Day menu features
delicacies such as sevruga caviar, free-range herb-fed
turkey breast and melting christmas pudding soufflé,
preceded by a free-flowing louis roederer vintage
2009 champagne cocktail party, priced at £160 per
head (£70 for children under 12).

Catering for Christmas
when it comes to food service, preparation is key.
according to steve Jeavons, purchasing Director at
fairway foodservice (www.fairwayfoodservice.com), a
network of independent food distributors servicing the
catering industry, membership of such an organisation
brings significant benefits when in the preparation
phase for the festive period.

16

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

“not only will members benefit from a range of
fairway foodservice own-brand products, something
that is exclusive to them, but also with the whole range
of branded products that are available,” he says. “in
addition, we also have specific promotions and
christmas features, as well as christmas planners and
menu ideas that members will utilise to assist their
customer planning.”
promotions in the run-up to the christmas period are
not limited to products, there’s also plenty of advice
available, for example on catering for special diets. “we
have a regular monthly promotion, but to cover the
christmas period we run a special christmas
promotion that runs from the start of november until
the end of the year. all the products that our members
feature will have numerous features and benefits that
they can advise on, too – as well as menu ideas, this
includes ingredient details to help with allergen and
food intolerance information such as gluten free.”
once the festive season is underway, it’s all about
service. “provided all the preparation has been put in
place with menus and products selected, the main
issues will then be about service. This is where fairway
foodservice members score really highly as service is
what we are all about. it is absolutely vital all year

{ Christmas Focus }

round, not just during the festive season. The other
factor is the weather and here again our members have
an excellent record even in really adverse weather
conditions.”
food service providers can make a real point of
difference by creating a christmas range with a wide
range of products, including catering for special diets.
Bidfood www.bidfood.co.uk has 750 products in this
year’s festive range, with 120 added in as new options
for 2017, more than 40 of which are gluten free.
“while the holiday season is a time of indulgence, we
also need to be mindful of different dietary
requirements, such as free-from,” says Gail Bridgeman,
campaign controller at Bidfood. “This has been a big
focus for us over the last 12 months, which is why
we’ve created the largest selection of gluten-free
options to date and have a dedicated section for these
items within our christmas brochure.”

Gifts galore
when it comes to christmas gifts, specially packaged

food and drink offerings are always popular and
companies look to boost sales with new product
options. Divine chocolate
(www.divinechocolate.com/uk), which is 45% owned by
cocoa farmers, is launching new Black cherries, Brazil
nuts and caramelised almonds gift bags, all of which
are fairtrade. To encourage kids into the kitchen, fudge
Kitchen (www.fudgekitchen.co.uk) has added a
children’s fudge-making kit to its fudge in my Kitchen
make-at-home range, just in time for the christmas gift
market. adults may prefer the micro-distillery gininfused fudge selection boxes. all are hand-made by
artisan staff, using traditional methods, authentic
recipes and natural ingredients.
meanwhile, steenbergs organic
(www.steenbergs.co.uk), a north yorkshire family-run
company offering ethically sourced spices, tea and
cooking ingredients, has a new range of hand-blended
old hamlet mulling spices, which can be purchased in
a variety of gift formats, including inside a christmas
cracker or as a boxed gift set.

Of course, many of those in the food and drink industry may find
themselves working over the festive period. But whatever you are
doing, we hope you find the time to eat, drink and be merry!

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

17

{ Christmas Focus }

MR. CRUMB LAUNCHES ROASTED
GARLIC & HERB STUFFING
award winning irish stuffing manufacturer
mr. crumb, is launching a fresh ’roasted
Garlic & herb stuffing’ in time for the roast
dinner and festive season. The launch is in
response to increased consumer interest in
more diverse flavour and vegetarian options
and is suited to accompany a wide range of
meat, fish and poultry dishes as well as
vegetarian meals.
The premium irish stuffing is handproduced in small batches and blends
onions sautéed in real irish butter with real

pieces of roasted garlic and fresh
breadcrumbs sourced from a local bakery. it
can be cooked in the microwave in just 2.5
minutes or 12 minutes in the oven for a
crispy finish, providing a convenient, flavour
filled meal accompaniment to a whole
variety of dishes.
The stuffing is available in 225g trays and
has an rsp of around £2. it’s sold in the
chiller alongside meal accompaniments like
yorkshire puddings in morrisons and all
good independents.

AT-HOME WINE TASTING, THROUGH
THE LETTERBOX, EVERY WEEK
wine lovers will be smiling at christmas
when they unwrap a wine subscription gift
made available by Decanting club.
This quirky subscription service delivers
wine directly through people’s letterboxes in
the uK and is the perfect gift for wine-loving
family and friends. There’s no signing for
packages, no picking up from neighbours!
This gift of wine lands right on the doorstep
in an envelope on a weekly basis.
wine lovers will receive an envelope
containing a specially-designed pouch,
ready to open and pour. The pouch contains
150ml of that week’s specially-chosen wine
to swirl, sniff and taste. They are constructed

The lucky recipient receives their first glass
of quality wine the week immediately after
they register using a unique code. wines
alternate between red and white (and the
occasional rosé), although reds-only and
whites-only gifts are also available. once
signed up, wine lovers can order more of
the wines they’ve enjoyed and get
discounted prices by the bottle or case.
using strong, inert materials that don’t alter
the taste of the wine in any way.
Gift certificates can be sent for christmas,
with prices starting at £25, and personal
messages can be added at no extra cost.

Gift certificates can be
purchased here:
https://decanting.club/gift

FESTIVE FUDGE FLAVOURS
FROM COPPERPOT ORIGINALS
it’s the countdown to christmas! copperpot
originals’ has reinvented two fantastic
festive flavours of fudge, perfect
for the winter season. created
using copperpot originals’
flagship flavour, english Butter
fudge as a base, sweet-treat
lovers will be able to try apple &
cinnamon Butter fudge and
christmas spiced Butter fudge,
available online from 1 october.
apple & cinnamon Butter
fudge has a deliciously sweet and
spicy taste. The aromatic fudge

18

both crumbles and melts in your mouth.
perfect from autumn onwards the heartwarming sweet treat is great for
hampers, stocking fillers and
food-lovers!
christmas spiced Butter fudge
is rich and fruity, the taste of
christmas in a deliciously sweet
parcel. perfect for the festive
season this new flavour not only
makes a great gift but is also a
moreish indulgence for those who
love sweet treats.
each cube is crammed to the corners

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

with creamy butter, milk and golden syrup.
each cube is batch-cooked and handbroken to crumble on the tongue with a
melting buttery punch of fudgy
deliciousness.
made with natural flavours make sure you
add a box of copperpot originals to your
christmas list!

Visit copperpotoriginals.co.uk
and indulge.

{ Christmas Focus }

JIMMY GARCIA ANNOUNCES THE LODGE ON THE
RIVER AT LONDON’S SOUTHBANK CENTRE
already the place to be when those winter
chills kick in, this year at The south Bank
centre there’ll be an even more stunning
addition, a feast for both the eyes and the
palette – Jimmy’s lodge on The river.
created by the king of pop-ups, Jimmy
Garcia, this ultimate alpine foodie retreat will
be running from the 10th november – 31st
December 2017 and will feature an
indulgent fondue menu from ‘The refuge’ the first-floor restaurant, as well as in the
private-dining ‘snow Globes’. on offer will
also be a grab-and-go menu from the
winter Grill downstairs for guests to take
with them as they continue their stroll along
the river under the stars.
‘The refuge’ is a tickets only upstairs
dining experience which will serve mulled
wine cured Gravalax salmon, Game Terrine
on Brioche Toast and smoked Goat’s curd
starters to share, followed by the traditional

alpine fondue served with a selection of
artisan charcuterie, new potatoes, bread
and salad. The downstairs winter Grill will
serve grab and go dishes including the
show-stopping raclette Burger, the wild
Boar and apple hot Dog and ‘aspen fries’
topped with parmesan and Truffle oil.
Jimmy's lodge is situated in the most
picture-perfect location, overlooking the
river Thames and the timeless buildings of
london. Getting into the festive spirit, a
cosy, two-storey cabin has been built with

wooden cladding and gifted with the best
views south of the river. There is also a
heated riverside alpine Bar, with fire-pits, a
canopy roof and an array of delectable hot
toddies and cocktails – perfect to keep
guests hands warm as they gaze out upon
the capital.
possibly the most exciting feature of The
lodge on The river is the inclusion of the
insta-worthy 'snow Globes'; four gorgeous
private dining domes available to book for
up to 10 people per dome. These are the
ideal alternative option for a group gettogether or a staff christmas meal. The
snow Globes will be serving a set menu that
features a trio of canapés followed by
traditional alpine fondue as well as the
option of côte de Boeuf to share, with
charred broccoli, salted almonds and chili
butter.

IT’S GIN-GLE ALL THE WAY FOR EDEN MILL DISTILLERY
AS THEY LAUNCH 12 GINS OF CHRISTMAS
Gin lovers are being treated to a very
merry christmas thanks to the launch of a

gift set of advent-urous miniatures from
eden mill distillery. 12 Gins of christmas

features the results of a year’s
experimentation from the entire eden mill
team, with each miniature expression
handpicked from a number of recipes
trialled and created onsite at the st andrews
distillery. The set – priced at £69 – sees
established eden mill favourites original Gin,
love Gin, hop Gin and Golf Gin joined by
some festive flavours – including mulled Gin,
orange and clove Gin and after Dinner Gin.
other flavours include the caribbeaninspired slackwater Gin, cardamom-infused
rai Gin, the mediterranean Botano Gin and
the so-called ‘juniper monster’, the Juniper
Trio Gin.
To meet demand, the team has doubled
production this year with 20,000 12 Gins of
christmas sets ready to be dispatched to
gift-hunters from the newly relaunched
edenmill.com, John lewis stores and online
as well as the eden mill distillery shop in st
andrews.

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

19

{ Labelling & Packaging Focus }

NEW INK IS IDEAL FOR OILY APPLICATIONS
linx printing Technologies has widened its
range of specialist inks with the introduction
of a new formula that meets the challenges
of coding onto oily surfaces. linx Black oilpenetrating ink 1062 is able to print
effectively through light layers of oil onto a
wide range of materials, including plastics,
metal, glass and waxy surfaces. linx 1062 ink
also provides good adhesion on oriented
polypropylene (opp) and other plastic films,
making it ideal for a variety of food
applications.
compatible with the full range of linx
8900 printers, linx 1062 ink is an meK-based
ink with a fast drying time of one to two
seconds that is able to adhere to substances
with an oily or greasy film to deliver reliable
long-term code durability. it offers excellent

contrast and legibility on transparent and
pale coloured materials, and is able to resist
a range of oils including engineering cutting
fluid, petroleum and kerosene. its heatresistant properties also ensure good code

legibility after autoclaving or cooking
processes.
Typical applications include canned foods
and packaging film for flow wrap, pouches
and bags in food sectors such as meat,
bakery and confectionery.
“our new linx Black oil-penetrating ink
1062 has identified and overcome the
perennial challenge of coding onto oily
surfaces,” explains charles randon, senior
product manager at linx.
“This latest addition to our range of inks
broadens the options available to our
customers to ensure they can achieve
consistently reliable and long-lasting codes,
however challenging the application.”

www.linxglobal.com

AVERY WEPRINT STUDY REVEALS THE POWER OF A LABEL
Big brands today spend a fortune on
emotive marketing campaigns and it’s
because they know that when it comes to
human decision-making, emotion trumps
reason. But just how do you ensure a
product on the shelf reaches the consumer
on an emotional level? This was something
labelling experts avery weprint set out to
answer, with an in-depth psychological
study on the power of persuasive product
labels.
from snacks and food-to-go to jars of
cooking sauce, on a crowded shelf, what
does a product label need to cut through
the noise? eye-tracking experiments
confirmed that bright colours and large
labels encourage consumers to stop and
look; while bold lines, borders and stripes
mean that a label could be viewed 42%
more than plainer labels nearby.
once you have a consumer’s attention,
the best way to hold it and convert it into a
desired outcome (like a purchase or a
positive opinion of a brand) is to make the
brain think and engage with the product.
This can be achieved through emotion,
priming, heuristics (helpful decision-making
shortcuts) and curiosity. The full report from
avery weprint (available at
www.avery.co.uk/labelstories) delves into the
detail of these tools but here are just a few

20

key insights:
• There is a sudden spike in brain activity
when we encounter something which
needs to be ’worked out’. Teaser labels
that engage the brain and pose a question
can increase response rates by threefold.
• humans have a natural tendency to
notice anything unexpected, novel or
bizarre. so aim to raise eyebrows and
challenge conventions.
• consumers are prepared to pay more
money for products with labels that
convey a message of quality, such as
business awards and accreditations or
simply a high-quality label material.
• emotion trumps
reason and
humans can’t help
but pay attention
to emotion and
the use of an
emotive word like
’love’ or ’pride’.
while an emotive
image made
people spend 13%
longer looking at
the product.
• use heuristics,
these are mental
shortcuts the brain

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

uses for quick decision-making and they
play a key role in purchasing decisions.
Tell the brain your product is the best with
endorsements, clever use of symbols such
as a tick, and careful use of colour. for
example, using the colour green
communicates the message to ’go’,
’proceed’ or ’choose’.

See the full report on the Avery
website and put the findings
into practice by designing your
own persuasive product labels
with Avery WePrint at
https://weprint.avery.co.uk

{ Labelling & Packaging Focus }

MONDI WINS GERMAN PACKAGING AWARD 2017 FOR
BOOSTING CONSUMER CONVENIENCE WITH CORNERPACK
mondi consumer Goods packaging received
the German packaging award 2017
(Deutscher verpackungspreis) in the
‘functionality and convenience’ category.
The competition - organised annually by the
German packaging institute (Deutsches
verpackungsinstitut – dvi) - recognised the
company for its innovative easy opening
solution, cornerpack.
in response to european consumers’
growing appetite for snacks on the go,
mondi’s consumer packaging r&D
innovation team and mondi solec in poland
developed a new packaging solution that
focuses on convenience. The majority of
conventional foil packaging is opened by
tearing along a perforated corner. however,
this often not only results in product spillage
but also in openings that are either too large
or too small. This prompted mondi to design
a bag with multiple easy-to-use openings.

Based on consumer feedback, mondi
devised semi-circular, parallel scoring lines
on both sides in the bag’s upper corners to
indicate the different opening options.
consumers simply open the packaging as
usual, as the tear automatically follows the
scoring line, which facilitates easy product
delivery.
By pre-punching the scoring lines, mondi

eliminated uncontrolled tears and product
spillage. on top of that, the new design does
not require additional instructions on how
to open the packaging: the scoring lines run
around the full width of the bag - starting in
the corner, which means opening the
product is highly intuitive.
The panel of judges was particularly
impressed by the smart design of the tear
lines. moreover, the scoring lines can easily
be applied to the majority of popular flexible
packaging (Bopp and met/Bopp films)
without requiring additional changes to
existing production lines.
oliver sperber, chief innovation officer
mondi consumer packaging, commented:
“we are honoured to be receiving this award
for the second year in a row and consider it
as a recognition of our commitment to
develop convenient packaging solutions that
simplify the lives of consumers every day.”

CEETAK – QPH SEALING SYSTEM CONTINUES TO
REDUCE FILM COSTS AND IMPROVE LINE EFFICIENCIES
with ceetak sealing solutions, food
manufacturers can refresh their brands and
increase their product shelf appeal by
introducing the ceetak Qph sealing system
to their vffs bagging machines.
The ceetak system operates efficiently on
both continuous and intermittent machines,
producing one of the smallest seals available
to the market, typically 1-1.5mm. The main
benefit of the system can be seen with
average film savings between 7% to 15%.
ceetak can retrofit the Qph system to
any make of vffs machine, extending the
lifetime of the machine and offering
manufacturers significant production
flexibility to help keep up with ever
changing market conditions.
The Qph system is ip65 rated and gives a
number of additional benefits in terms of
reduced maintenance, higher running
speeds, faster sealing times and offers
improved health and safety working. Thus
saving downtime and rework costs, whilst
creating strong, durable seals which can
increase shelf life of fresh product up to

three days. The Qph system also improves
hygiene in the working environment.
ceetak have the capability and expertise
to demonstrate this in their test facility to
show that this new technology not only
produces smaller seals but also stronger
seals than those currently manufactured
using conventional technology. hermetically
tight seals can also be easily achieved with
this system. The Quick pulse heat sealing

system can also be supplied with an “easy
openinG Device“, by means of bag
perforation.
ceetak have re-engineered their sealing
technology based on 30 years’ experience in
the process industry explains phil hyde,
product manager at ceetak packaging
solutions.
“The premium seal quality demonstrates
to the environmentally friendly consumer
that it is not necessary to have wasted film
at the top and bottom of the bag at point of
sale. a further advantage is the opportunity
to meet consumer demand for a product
that can be opened without splitting the bag
as seen with conventional crimp jaw
technology.”
Demonstrations are available at ceetak’s
Test facility where customer sample films
can be trialled, alternatively customer site
demonstrations are also possible.

Tel: 01234 832200
Email: sales@ceetak.com
www.ceetak.com

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

21

{ UCC Q&A }

Food and Drink News went behind the scenes with UCC to find out more
about the business and their passion for coffee. The family-run, global coffee
network expertly produces and distributes customised coffees, award-winning
machines and essential supporting services for the retail and out-of-home
market. They are a leading force across six European countries â&#x20AC;&#x201C; France,
Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.
We caught up with Phil Smith, Head of Category & Insight,
UCC Coffee UK & Ireland to tell us more.

22

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

{ UCC Q&A }

You recently made two new additions to
your Black&White range, exclusively to
the UK market. What has the feedback
been like from your UK customers?
“feedback has been extremely positive – the
Black&white4c with under-counter refrigeration is
perfect for operators that want to serve a quality coffee
with very tight constraints on counter space. it’s a
machine for lower volume operators but still packs a
punch when it comes to drink variety.
“The addition of syrup modules and chocolate to the
machine through the Black&white4c with integrated
powder and flavour station, while retaining such a
small frame, is unique.
“what really sets Black&white apart is that it is
quality-focused through its entire range. so the new
models benefit from the same build quality and
features as the larger models.”

In February 2017, we saw reports that
consumer spending in the UK had gone
down but the number of coffee shops
increased dramatically. Why do you
think coffee bucks the trend?
“coffee is an affordable treat in people’s daily routine.
it’s one of life’s little luxuries, but has grown into a
mainstream habit. coffee has been a strong sector
since the late 1990s and has been in continual growth
ever since. as a product it can be easily adapted for
new sectors, and it’s relatively simple as a non-coffee-

specialist business to tag it on to your existing offer to
deliver a delicious drink. Get the quality right and
coffee can be used to drive incremental sales
particularly through quiet parts of the day.”

The UK coffee market is expected to
grow by 29% in the next five years to
£4.3bn. How do you think UCC can
capitalise on this?
“we believe in partnering with customers, which is
more than just supplying a box of coffee. we’re highly
experienced throughout all sectors of the hospitality
industry and by ensuring we maximise our partners’
coffee sales, we can grow alongside them.
“our powerful combination of insight, the finest
fresh-roasted beans, roasted here in the uK, and stateof-the-art coffee machines makes us the market leader
in delivering a total coffee solution. The way we
support businesses to achieve consistently exceptional
coffee is what makes us unique and sets us apart from
all other coffee businesses in the market.”

Which is your biggest coffee brand in
the UK?
“lyons is our biggest consumer brand and Grand
café, which was recently relaunched with fresh new
packaging, is our largest in the out of home market.
sustainably sourced, Grand café is our go-to brand for
ethically aware businesses.”

“What really sets Black&White apart is that it is quality-focused
through its entire range. So the new models benefit from the same
build quality and features as the larger models.”

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

23

{ Innovative Bites }

The Sweet Taste of Success
Providing a route to market for American imports and British
sweets and snacks, the Innovative Bites Group is fast becoming
a one-stop shop for confectionery in the UK.

h

ershey’s Kisses, hostess Twinkies, reese’s
peanut Butter cups, cookie Dough Bites – all
familiar confectionery brands to anyone who
has travelled to the states; all among the thousands of
products imported into the uK by the innovative Bites
Group.
not only does the company provide a key route to
market for us confectionery, cereals, snacks, spreads
and other general groceries through its american
wholesale division, but innovative Bites has also
recently made a number of key acquisitions as part of a
long-term strategy to become the uK’s leading supplier
of confectionery.
The purchase of confectionery company Bonds of
london and wholesale sweet supplier hancocks has
allowed the company to diversify and facilitated its
growth to a £200m turnover business.
Today it supplies asda, morrisons, sainsbury’s, Tesco,

The co-operative and waitrose, as well as the merlin
Group, vue cinemas, mccoll’s retail Group and a wide
range of discounters and wholesalers.
“we want to become a one-stop shop for
confectionery in the uK,” says founder Director, vishal
madhu. “whatever people need, we want to be their
solution for it across confectionery categories. at the
same time, we also want to be a route-to-market
business. we now have the ability to reach a substantial
number of retail points through our 50,000 customers.
our route to market and our reach is going to be an
incredibly important part of our business moving
forward, and it’s something that we are going to be
expanding.”

A little history
after completing his masters at Brunel in 2005, vishal
madhu worked as an account manager for a large food

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

25

{ Innovative Bites }

supplier, where he gained valuable experience in the
food sector.
he founded innovative Bites in 2008 and started
trading in 2010, importing new york style pitta chips to
customers including harvey nichols. The product range
and customer base expanded rapidly, and he soon left
his day job to focus full-time on the new venture.
originally established as an importer and distributer
of american branded food and drink products to the
retail trade, innovative Bites now looks after the large
accounts with the multiples, discounters and
wholesalers, with its american wholesale division
handling supply to independent customers who run
their own retail outlets or chains.

Expansion and acquisition
while the company saw plenty of early success, it
soon became clear to vishal madhu that the best way
to achieve his goal of rapid growth was through
acquisition.
in april 2016, the business acquired Bonds of
london, a British confectionery company established in
1895.
“The reasoning for the acquisition was to reduce risk
and gain new customers and products,” says vishal
madhu. “it also gave us the ability to create private label

products for customers from our own packaging
operation within innovative Bites.”
at this point, another opportunity materialised; this
time to acquire hancocks. originally a family-run
business established in the midlands in 1962, hancocks
had grown to become the largest confectionery
wholesaler in the uK. The purchase of hancocks
holdings brought with it an online wholesale sweet
shop and 20 hancocks cash and carries located across
the uK, from Dundee down to portsmouth.
incorporated within hancocks were two further
businesses: Bobby’s and uK sweets. founded in 1972,
Bobby’s now operates 11 depots with 90 delivery vans,
supplying around 23,000 customers at local stores and
businesses across the uK with sweets, snacks and
cakes. loughborough-based uK sweets is a leading
confectionery wholesaler and home of the high-quality
royale confectionery brand.

A few facts and figures
Today, the innovative Bites Group has a turnover of
£200m, employs around 800 people and sells to
approximately 50,000 individual customers.
with the 20 hancocks cash and carries, 11 Bobby’s
depots, various head offices, including the group’s head
office in london’s haymarket, repacking houses and a

The purchase transformed the business in one fell swoop from a
£23m turnover operation in 2015 to a £42m business at the
moment of purchase in April 2016. By the end of 2016, the group
was reporting further growth to £48m.

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September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

{ Innovative Bites }

brand new 105,000 sq ft premises opened earlier this
year, the business now has almost 40 sites across the
uK.
“at the moment, we’ve just put five businesses
together and we are carrying out work to ensure that
they are all dancing to the same tune,” explains vishal
madhu. “currently it’s about synergising the business
correctly, spending time on our systems to make sure
they are right and, at the same time, making sure that
our people are aligned across our entire group in the
right way. when you look at confectionery, we are now
the specialists in sugar confectionery; there is nobody
as big as us within the uK landscape. The vision i have
for the future is about what we are going to achieve by
putting all of these businesses together. That’s the big
question.”
There’s also an export division within the group,
selling British confectionery to various retailers around
the globe as well as independent distributors across
mainland europe and beyond.
when it comes to marketing, there is a broad
approach, from gaining insights through category
analysis to attending events and exhibitions.
“from the perspective of where our business now
stands, for any new product that we launch, we already
have a route to market,” says vishal madhu. “we just
have to plug into every channel in which we already
sell and automatically we get distribution. whereas our
suppliers come to us to sell their products so that they
can reach the markets that we are in.”

Product range and diversification
while supplying the big brands from the us
continues to be an important part of the business,
developing own brand products will also be key
moving forward.
“we’re the driving force and an excellent route to
market for american goods in the uK,” says vishal
madhu. “But an integral part of where we want to grow
the business is with our own asset base; this is
effectively how we want to take the business forward.”
recent new product launches include Biscolata and
chocolate Buddy. “Biscolata is chocolate with vanilla
inside, similar to the meiji hello panda biscuits.
chocolate Buddy is going head on with reese’s peanut
Butter cups, but the benefit of our product is that it’s
manufactured to suit the British palate with Belgian
chocolate. The way we look at it is that we want to
bring products to the market that suit the local palate,
while taking on board the innovation that happens
around the world."
other new products include Baking Buddy mega
marshmallows and Breakfast Buddy cereal. “at the
moment there is no cereal in the uK with freeze dried
marshmallows apart from lucky charms. we’ve

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September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

designed Breakfast Buddy, which has got freeze dried
marshmallows, no artificial colours and no Gm
products, to create a fun, but slightly healthier product.”
a strong believer that confectionery should be about
fun, vishal madhu is also keen on developing ranges
such as hancock’s own-label crazy candy factory. “it’s
not your normal big bag of jellies or gummies, it’s a bit
more fun. so you’ll have a toy in there, which also
becomes a portion control element for the
confectionery. it’s our way of looking at how we can
help with the way the market is moving towards
managing their intake levels and develop our products
accordingly.”

An eye on the future
while aware of the pressure on sugar consumption,
vishal madhu says that research points to the uK’s
£6bn sugar confectionery market remaining stable over
the coming years.
“There might be a slight change in consumer habits,
looking for healthier options, but any major change is a
long way away and people are still going to want
sweets. otherwise, where is the fun?”

rehalon are delighted to announce the launch of
the new secondary seal (ssl™) high barrier
shrink bag and film technology to the fresh red
meat market. This innovation uses special materials to
allow the inner packaging layers to fuse together
through the normal production process of vacuum
packing and hot water shrinkage, creating the unique
ssl™ pack presentation. coupling this revolutionary
technology with Krehalon’s current patented shrink film
structure provides a range of key benefits and helps
achieve the perfect ‘skin tight’ pack.
for retail applications, this ‘skin tight’ presentation is
maintained throughout the life of the product with no
post-shrink relaxation and a decrease in drip in the ears
of the pack. for some applications, total removal of
the blood pad has been achieved, resulting in

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September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

considerable cost reductions and a decline in overall
customer complaints, including reduction in
‘confinement’ vacuum pack odour.
using this technology for primal applications has also
resulted in reduced pack leaker rates and potential
yield, blood loss and shelf life benefits.
moreover, ssl™ is the perfect enhancement for
automated shrink Bag replacement (sBr™)
applications. according to Krehalon, combining ssl™
with sBr™ will provide a ‘step change’ in pack
presentation. ssl™ is well-suited for automated
packing, particularly flovac applications. flovac is an
automated inline system which replaces manual bag
loading operations. The system is conveyor-fed and
enables every product to be measured before packing
so that each bag is made to the optimum size of each

{ Krehalon }

Form Shrink SSL™ Pack format.

For retail applications, this ‘skin tight’ presentation is maintained
throughout the life of the product with no post-shrink relaxation
and a decrease in drip in the ears of the pack.
product, allowing for precise material-to-product ratio.
The system offers exceptional cost savings through
minimised material waste and pack leakers, reduced
labour costs and improved efficiency. in short, driving
down real pack costs whilst improving pack
presentation.
extensive ssl™ trials are currently ongoing in key
fresh meat markets in europe, australia, south america
and russia where some of the largest beef and pork
producers have expressed strong interest in
the ssl™ concept due to the blood yield advantages
and potential shelf life extension benefits it offers over
standard shrink products. Krehalon has already secured
many key customer accounts as a result of the
successful trials which are proving all the commercial
benefits of this new development.
contact Krehalon via info@krehalonuk.co.uk and
request your complementary ssl™ sample pack,
outlining the key benefits of this exciting new
development.

Further information on SSL™ is also
available at www.krehalon.com

September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

31

{ Bob Bon Buddies }

Disney Gets Fruity With
New Character-Inspired
Fruitickles
Disney, in partnership with Bon Bon Buddies, has launched
Fruitickles - a new product made with 100% fruit product - in line
with its healthier approach to eating strategy.
The fruitickles range, which counts towards a child’s
five-a-day and contains no added sugar, features
characters from popular Disney franchises, including
Disney princess, Disney frozen, Disney pixar cars 3,
marvel’s spider-man and star wars.
The collection was specifically developed by Bon
Bon Buddies to comply with Disney’s nutritional
guidelines to be more balanced for children and
provide families with a nutritionally better option than
comparable products in the marketplace.
fruitickles, which are available in asda, sainsbury’s
and Tesco, come in various sizes from grab and go
consumption packs, multipacks as well as surprise
capsules and surprise Bags. available in mixed
strawberry, orange and blackcurrant flavours, each
portion has no added sugar, no artificial flavours or
colours, is a source of fibre and is suitable for
vegetarians and the gluten intolerant.
The collection was developed and designed by south
wales-based Bon Bon Buddies, europe’s premier
provider of character and branded confectionery, which

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September/October 2017 Food & Drink News

is also responsible for making sure it is stocked in shops
throughout the uK and internationally.
Justin Thomas, managing Director of Bon Bon
Buddies, said: “our team has worked extremely hard to
develop fruitickles, making sure it embodies creativity
and fun, so it will be appealing to children while also
being a healthier choice to more traditional
alternatives.
“creating fruitickles has been a journey that we’ve
put our heart and soul into, from scouring the globe for
the best natural ingredients to designing a fruity
product that will excite Disney fans and children
everywhere.”
in 2006, Disney became the first major global media
company to establish clear nutritional guidelines as
part of its on-going commitment to developing
healthier food for children, using its brands and
characters. The company sees this as an innovative
way to encourage families to make better choices
about their eating habits.

{ 1Stop Halal }

Improving The Halal
Supply Chain
The number one halal brand in the UK, Shazans, is now supplying
all the major multiples through an integrated fresh meat supply
chain: 1Stop Halal
They began by making samosas in their kitchen,
launching the shazan brand in 2000. Today the ayyub
family presides over a successful business that supplies
pre-packed fresh poultry, lamb and beef, and
manufactures frozen snacks – handmaking up to 20
million individual samosas a year, plus rolls, kebabs and
added-value frozen products.
in 2004, the business was approached by asda to
launch frozen samosas in selected stores, and in 2014,
the four major multiples relaunched their fresh meat
ranges and category sales doubled.
since 2016, the company has run in-store halal
butcheries in Tesco and morrisons and by the end of

MRCT have been delivering chilled food
products since 1969. From the innovative
beginnings of refrigerated containers ﬁxed to
ﬂatbed trailers to the purpose-built vehicles of
today’s modern ﬂeet we have been serving
customers of all sizes for nearly 50 years.

We are pleased to be associated with
1Stop Halal and wish them continued
success for the future.
Moores Refrigeration Controlled Transport Limited

2017 it will have 45 stores. recently,
shazan’s select was launched in
morrisons, which has seen over
20% growth, and other
customers include amazon, Kfc
in the uK, halal accreditation
bodies hfa and hmc, and, since
June 2017, iceland stores.
To cater for the growing
demand for halal meat, 1stop
halal was launched in 2013,
creating a leading integrated
fresh meat supply chain with the
highest level of independent
religious compliance for
supermarkets, delivered through
the trusted established brand of
shazans. with retail sales currently
standing at around £40m, shazans is the
number one halal brand in the uK. Behind the brand
lies many years of customer insight and retail
experience, now supported by the 1stop halal
integrated supply chain, and a team comprising more
than 400 employees.
The past 12 months has seen investment of more
than £1.5m to upgrade the company’s fresh poultry
abbatoir and retail packing facility at eye in suffolk and
its fresh red meat packing facility and frozen addedvalue snacks production factory in preston, lancashire.
research and development has also led to the launch
in June of skin-pack technology for red meat products,
designed to reduce waste – an important element of
packaging today.
“our plans moving forward are to drive standards,
help our customers achieve a bigger market share of
the halal sector and improve our business every single
day for our partners,” says steve ewels. “we’d also like to
cement our position as the halal partner of choice for
our customers and as the number one halal brand in
the uK.”